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FuzzyRussianHat · 01-17-2025, 08:06 PM

Austronesia Professional Baseball increased its active roster size from 24 to 25 beginning with 2023. APB had started with 25, but had lowered to 24 for the 1998 season. 25 was originally the “default” for most world leagues but many others had lowered their active roster in later years.

The Taiwan-Philippine Association’s champs from 2022 both fell off steeply in 2023. Defending APB champ Quezon went from 94 wins to only 64 in 2023, while Taiwan League champ Taoyuan fell from 101 wins to 73. The opening put 2021 TPA champ Hsinchu back into the pole position. The Sweathogs dominated the TL at 106-56, leading the TPA in scoring with 667 runs. They were 16 games better than second place Kaohsiung and 17 ahead of Taichung.

The Philippine League was closer, but still saw a firm win for 101-61 Zamboanga, who allowed the fewest runs at 410. Cebu (94-68) and Manila (92-70) were competitive, but came up short. The Zebras ended a three-year playoff drought, giving them their seventh playoff berth in the last 11 years. For the Crows, they notably ended a seven-year run of losing seasons.

Hsinchu 1B Binh Tang won his fourth consecutive Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. Still in only his sixth season, the 23-year old Vietnamese lefty earned his second Triple Crown and broke APB’s single-season runs scored record with 122. Hector Constanza had held the top mark with 114 since 2001. Tang joined Eli Cheng and Tunggul Widhyasari as the only APB batters with multiple Triple Crown efforts.

Tang led with 49 home runs, 106 RBI, 69 walks, 355 total bases, a .312/.393/.622 triple slash, 1.015 OPS, 202 wRC+, and 11.9 WAR. His effort was the seventh-most WAR in a season by an APB position player to that point. The Sweathogs wisely extended the man that would later become known as “The King” for his historic dominance. In August, Tang inked an APB-record eight-year, $168,600,000 extension to keep him with Hsinchu into his early 30s.

History was also made as Zamboanga ace Ching-Chen Yao won his tenth Pitcher of the Year award. He joined EPB great Matvey Ivanov (11) and CABA/MLB legend Junior Vergara (10) as the only pitchers in world history to win the award 10+ times. Now 35-years old, Yao was starting to wind down somewhat, as he didn’t lead in strikeouts for only the second time since 2012. He did extend his streak as the WHIP leader to 12 years, while leading in WAR for the tenth time and earning his eighth ERA title.

Yao posted a 1.44 ERA over 200.1 innings, 15-4 record, 284 strikeouts, 0.59 WHIP, 17.8 K/BB, 197 ERA+, 37 FIP-, and 9.1 WAR. This would be his last full season, although he’d have three more injury-shortened seasons with the Zebras. Yao became the first APB player to breach 150 career WAR, while also becoming the 10^th pitcher to 4500 strikeouts and the 27^th to 200 wins.

In the Sundaland Association, the top two records came out of the Java Sea League. Jakarta at 97-65 narrowly edged out last year’s winner Bandung at 93-69. That ended an 18-year playoff drought for the once proud Jaguars, which was the second-longest active drought in APB entering the year. They had rebuilt after bottoming out with an abysmal 48-112 record in 2018.

The Blackhawks missed despite allowing the fewest runs at 357. Bandung’s pitching staff had a 5.58 H/9, setting a new APB record. Their 944 hits allowed and 0.797 WHIP were both the second-lowest in APB history. Also of note, Palembang had their first losing season since 2014. The Panthers were the SA champ from 2019-21.

Reigning Sundaland Association champ Medan repeated in the Malacca League, but barely. The Marlins finished 88-74, edging Batam by one game, Pekanbaru by four, and Kuala Lumpur by six. Johor Bahru was 78-84 despite leading all SA teams with 540 runs. The Blue Wings also allowed the most runs at 565. The Blue Raiders had APB’s longest playoff drought, which grew to 24 years with their near miss in 2023.

Medan right fielder Mohd Aqmal Kunanlan repeated as Sundaland Association MVP in his sixth year with the Marlins. The 28-year old Malaysian led in total bases (321), average (.292), and OBP (.348). Kunanlan had 75 runs, 42 home runs, 87 RBI, .922 OPS, 218 wRC+, and 8.0 WAR. He also hit for the cycle in 2023 in a 5-5 effort against Semarang on June 15.

Purnandi Supriatna also repeated as Pitcher of the Year for Medan, winning the ERA title at 1.34. The 28-year old Indonesian lefty earned his third POTY in four years and had a 20-6 record, 13 saves, 208.1 innings, 291 strikeouts, 192 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR. This marked the end of an impressive APB career, as Supriatna would leave for MLB in the winter. He signed an eight-year, $199 million deal with Virginia Beach. While the bag was nice, Supriatna would only be decent in his tenure with the Vikings.

Zamboanga rolled to a sweep of Hsinchu in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship, ending a four-year title drought. The Zebras earned their sixth pennant since 2013 and ninth overall. On the other side, Medan repeated as Sundaland Association champ by defeating Jakarta 4-2. The Marlins also won their ninth pennant, setting up a first meeting against Zamboanga.

Both Medan and Zamboanga had gone 2-6 in their previous finals appearances. In the 59^th Austronesia Championship, the Marlins defeated the Zebras in a seven-game classic to claim their third ring (1987, 1989, 2023). CF Jaime Sia was finals MVP in his fifth year for Medan. The 29-year old Indonesian in 13 starts had 15 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 1 homer, 5 RBI, and 8 walks in the postseason.

Other notes: APB’s 48^th Perfect Game came on May 3 as Johor Bahru’s Vishy Gupta struck out 13 against Singapore. Sharks ace Fahrudin Ramli later that month threw his third career no-hitter against Jakarta, whom he did it to the prior year as well. Ramli was the 15^th pitcher in the low-scoring world of APB to throw 3+ no-hitters.

1B Widodo Megawati won his 13^th Gold Glove, becoming the 4th in APB history to win 13+ GGs. Meiga Rafiandri won his 7th Silver Slugger and his second at 1B. He had five previous Sluggers at 2B. 2023 was Rafiandri’s APB return with Pekanbaru after a seven-year MLB excursion with Las Vegas. His other Sluggers and an MVP came with Taipei.

01-17-2025, 08:06 PM	#1986
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,922	2023 in APB Austronesia Professional Baseball increased its active roster size from 24 to 25 beginning with 2023. APB had started with 25, but had lowered to 24 for the 1998 season. 25 was originally the “default” for most world leagues but many others had lowered their active roster in later years. The Taiwan-Philippine Association’s champs from 2022 both fell off steeply in 2023. Defending APB champ Quezon went from 94 wins to only 64 in 2023, while Taiwan League champ Taoyuan fell from 101 wins to 73. The opening put 2021 TPA champ Hsinchu back into the pole position. The Sweathogs dominated the TL at 106-56, leading the TPA in scoring with 667 runs. They were 16 games better than second place Kaohsiung and 17 ahead of Taichung. The Philippine League was closer, but still saw a firm win for 101-61 Zamboanga, who allowed the fewest runs at 410. Cebu (94-68) and Manila (92-70) were competitive, but came up short. The Zebras ended a three-year playoff drought, giving them their seventh playoff berth in the last 11 years. For the Crows, they notably ended a seven-year run of losing seasons. Hsinchu 1B Binh Tang won his fourth consecutive Taiwan-Philippine Association MVP. Still in only his sixth season, the 23-year old Vietnamese lefty earned his second Triple Crown and broke APB’s single-season runs scored record with 122. Hector Constanza had held the top mark with 114 since 2001. Tang joined Eli Cheng and Tunggul Widhyasari as the only APB batters with multiple Triple Crown efforts. Tang led with 49 home runs, 106 RBI, 69 walks, 355 total bases, a .312/.393/.622 triple slash, 1.015 OPS, 202 wRC+, and 11.9 WAR. His effort was the seventh-most WAR in a season by an APB position player to that point. The Sweathogs wisely extended the man that would later become known as “The King” for his historic dominance. In August, Tang inked an APB-record eight-year, $168,600,000 extension to keep him with Hsinchu into his early 30s. History was also made as Zamboanga ace Ching-Chen Yao won his tenth Pitcher of the Year award. He joined EPB great Matvey Ivanov (11) and CABA/MLB legend Junior Vergara (10) as the only pitchers in world history to win the award 10+ times. Now 35-years old, Yao was starting to wind down somewhat, as he didn’t lead in strikeouts for only the second time since 2012. He did extend his streak as the WHIP leader to 12 years, while leading in WAR for the tenth time and earning his eighth ERA title. Yao posted a 1.44 ERA over 200.1 innings, 15-4 record, 284 strikeouts, 0.59 WHIP, 17.8 K/BB, 197 ERA+, 37 FIP-, and 9.1 WAR. This would be his last full season, although he’d have three more injury-shortened seasons with the Zebras. Yao became the first APB player to breach 150 career WAR, while also becoming the 10^th pitcher to 4500 strikeouts and the 27^th to 200 wins. In the Sundaland Association, the top two records came out of the Java Sea League. Jakarta at 97-65 narrowly edged out last year’s winner Bandung at 93-69. That ended an 18-year playoff drought for the once proud Jaguars, which was the second-longest active drought in APB entering the year. They had rebuilt after bottoming out with an abysmal 48-112 record in 2018. The Blackhawks missed despite allowing the fewest runs at 357. Bandung’s pitching staff had a 5.58 H/9, setting a new APB record. Their 944 hits allowed and 0.797 WHIP were both the second-lowest in APB history. Also of note, Palembang had their first losing season since 2014. The Panthers were the SA champ from 2019-21. Reigning Sundaland Association champ Medan repeated in the Malacca League, but barely. The Marlins finished 88-74, edging Batam by one game, Pekanbaru by four, and Kuala Lumpur by six. Johor Bahru was 78-84 despite leading all SA teams with 540 runs. The Blue Wings also allowed the most runs at 565. The Blue Raiders had APB’s longest playoff drought, which grew to 24 years with their near miss in 2023. Medan right fielder Mohd Aqmal Kunanlan repeated as Sundaland Association MVP in his sixth year with the Marlins. The 28-year old Malaysian led in total bases (321), average (.292), and OBP (.348). Kunanlan had 75 runs, 42 home runs, 87 RBI, .922 OPS, 218 wRC+, and 8.0 WAR. He also hit for the cycle in 2023 in a 5-5 effort against Semarang on June 15. Purnandi Supriatna also repeated as Pitcher of the Year for Medan, winning the ERA title at 1.34. The 28-year old Indonesian lefty earned his third POTY in four years and had a 20-6 record, 13 saves, 208.1 innings, 291 strikeouts, 192 ERA+, and 6.7 WAR. This marked the end of an impressive APB career, as Supriatna would leave for MLB in the winter. He signed an eight-year, $199 million deal with Virginia Beach. While the bag was nice, Supriatna would only be decent in his tenure with the Vikings. Zamboanga rolled to a sweep of Hsinchu in the Taiwan-Philippine Association Championship, ending a four-year title drought. The Zebras earned their sixth pennant since 2013 and ninth overall. On the other side, Medan repeated as Sundaland Association champ by defeating Jakarta 4-2. The Marlins also won their ninth pennant, setting up a first meeting against Zamboanga. Both Medan and Zamboanga had gone 2-6 in their previous finals appearances. In the 59^th Austronesia Championship, the Marlins defeated the Zebras in a seven-game classic to claim their third ring (1987, 1989, 2023). CF Jaime Sia was finals MVP in his fifth year for Medan. The 29-year old Indonesian in 13 starts had 15 hits, 8 runs, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 1 homer, 5 RBI, and 8 walks in the postseason. Other notes: APB’s 48^th Perfect Game came on May 3 as Johor Bahru’s Vishy Gupta struck out 13 against Singapore. Sharks ace Fahrudin Ramli later that month threw his third career no-hitter against Jakarta, whom he did it to the prior year as well. Ramli was the 15^th pitcher in the low-scoring world of APB to throw 3+ no-hitters. 1B Widodo Megawati won his 13^th Gold Glove, becoming the 4th in APB history to win 13+ GGs. Meiga Rafiandri won his 7th Silver Slugger and his second at 1B. He had five previous Sluggers at 2B. 2023 was Rafiandri’s APB return with Pekanbaru after a seven-year MLB excursion with Las Vegas. His other Sluggers and an MVP came with Taipei. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)